Internet valuable tool for finding employees

by Ruth Bremer

SBJ Contributing Writer

As more people are turning to the Internet for information, companies are finding they can bolster recruitment by providing online application forms.

Three area businesses that have been using online employment applications have seen a notable increase in responses.

Bass Pro Shops has been using online employment applications since May 1995, said Patti Randolph, employment manager.

Initially the response was slow, she said, "but with the increased use of the Internet, we are pleased with the quantity and quality of responses."

The online application was designed for recruiting for the company's salaried positions, she said.

"It serves as a means to simplify things for the candidate and allows us to have some pertinent information about the applicant," Randolph said.

Using the online application expedites the receipt of this information, she said. "It has proved very beneficial," Randolph said. "It's a helpful tool for applicants, and it's beneficial for us as well."

Bass Pro also has received some online applications for nonsalaried positions, she said.

"However, since we do immediate interviews for our nonexempt positions, applying online doesn't really serve as a benefit to the applicant," Randolph said.

O'Reilly Automotive, which began offering online job applications two years ago, now receives about 30 to 35 online applications a day, said Chris Pridgen, corporate recruiter.

"We've had a tremendous response," she said. "Not only can they apply online, but they can also submit a resume."

Office and upper-level management candidates tend to submit resumes, she said, but the Web site can be used to apply for any position, from warehouse to retail to office positions.

"The more we grow as a company, the more online applications we receive," she said.

Part of the increased response may be a result of O'Reilly's advertising campaign, which encourages applicants to visit the company's Web site, she said.

More means better

Not only are businesses getting more job applications, some find they're getting better applicants.

"Actually I feel we're getting better applicants," Pridgen said. "They reason I say that is because if they're able to pull it up on the computer and go through the Web site and get to that location and fill it out, you can actually see what their typing skills are like and that they know their way around a computer."

O'Reilly has hired employees as a result of their Internet applications, Pridgen said.

"We've hired several people," Pridgen said. "Anywhere from entry level to management positions have applied online. More of your upper-salary, management positions will send a resume rather than fill out an application."

While all applicants benefit from online applications, it is especially helpful to out-of-area applicants.

"Once we get the information online, we submit it to the location they're interested in," she said. "We get a lot of resumes for applicants wanting to relocate to the Springfield area or other locations."

Just starting out

The city of Springfield implemented its online application process March 1, said Nichole Plowman, senior computer programmer/analyst.

"Since then we've had about 340 people apply online, which is quite a few," she said. "And there are increasingly more day by day."

The online applications make it more convenient for applicants and get more people interested, she said.

"I'm sure we get more applicants that way," Plowman said. "We get a lot of response from out-of-town people that otherwise probably wouldn't apply."

Joanna Wright, human resources specialist with the city of Springfield, said it's too early to tell if the city is getting better applicants.

"We really can't say that that is true at this point we can't say one way or another. At this point, it is just making it more convenient for people.

"We're not tracking (where applications come from). They all go in the pool with everybody else."

(SBJ staff contributed to this story.)